Commuters adjust to changes during CTA Red Line construction

It's been nearly two weeks since the Red Line reconstruction began, forcing thousands of commuters to reroute. The CTA is making some changes based on where the riders are going.

For the most part CTA riders are happy with the shuttle bus and Green Line detour to the southern Red Line during the next five months of construction.

"I feel like it's really organized, they're helping us not only the shuttle bus is free but to get on the train is free so it's saving me money and I'm getting to school maybe 15 minutes earlier," rider Jonathan Jackson said.

"I love it actually! It gets me to my destination really quicker than when it was just a regular route," rider Gina Lloyd said.

"I'm taking the #29 because I have an internship so that's really the only bus I can take to get to my destination," commuter Nakila Buggs said.

Commuter Gary Walker is also taking the #29 State Street bus instead of the shuttle bus and Green Line detour.

"Now I'm taking this bus. It gets me where I need to go but it takes a little bit longer," Gary Walker said.

"We added extra service on the 3, 4, 29 and Jeffery Jump because we've seen larger than expected crowds there but what we're telling those customers is take a look at the free shuttle option," CTA spokesman Brian Steele said. "Not only is it no cost, but in many cases it will get you to your destination quicker than your local bus."

It's very common to have extra personnel on site at the beginning of a construction project to help commuters. It tapers off once commuters figure it out but for the Red Line project, the CTA has added customer assistants and will have personnel on site for all five months of the project.

Riders also see new locator maps at the stations and improvements to the CTA website.

"We've reorganized it into areas so if you're looking for alternative service information there's an entirely separate tab for that," Steele said.

The CTA says it will continue to monitor the reroutes and tweak as needed.